The DC School Choice Incentive
Program, authorized by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2004,
awarded a grant to the D.C. Children and Youth Investment Trust
Corporation that will administer scholarships to students who
reside in the District of Columbia and come from households whose
incomes do not exceed 185% of the poverty line. Priority is given
to students who are currently attending schools in need of
improvement, as defined by Title I. To assist in the student
selection and assignment process, the information to be collected
will be used to determine the eligibility of those students who are
interested in the available scholarships. Also, since the
authorizing statute requires an evaluation we are proposing to
collect certain family demographic information because they are
important predictors of school success. Finally, we are asking to
collect information about parental participation and satisfaction
because these are key topics that the statute requires the
evaluation to address.
This is a request for
emergency clearance to collect basic, time critical information
about scholarship applicants for the DC School Choice Incentive
Program, and preliminary information for the evaluation. The
Program was recently reauthorized on April 15, 2011 through
"District of Columbia, Federal Funds, Federal Payment for School
Improvement". Speaker Boehner introduced the Scholarships for
Opportunity and Results (SOAR) Act which reauthorized the DC School
Choice Incentive Program for another five years beginning in FY
2011. Pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.13, the Department requests that OMB
review the DC School Choice Incentive data collection tool under
its emergency procedures. The request for an emergency clearance is
twofold: (1) public harm is likely to result as more than 1,150
students on the current waiting list must be selected and approved
to receive funding by the end of June, a process that requires
approximately eight weeks to complete; and (2) receiving funding
was an unanticipated event as funding for this program was
previously discontinued.
PL:
Pub.L. 108 - 199 Stat. 3 (2004) Name of Law: DC SCHOOL CHOICE
INCENTIVE ACT OF 2003 (Title III Div C Consolidated Appropriations
Act of 2004)
This is a program change due to
the programs recent reauthorization on April 15, 2011 through
"District of Columbia, Federal Funds, Federal Payment for School
Improvement". The Department is requesting a reinstatement with
change of a previously approved collection, burden does not
increase or decrease from current OMB inventory of 1,000 annual
burden hours as the estimated number of respondents and total hours
associated with annual reporting have not changed.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.